Woman Playing a Guitar
Simon Vouet, ca. 1618
About this artwork
Simon Vouet's *Woman Playing a Guitar*, painted around 1618 during his formative years in Rome, captures moment of intimate musical reverie. This on canvas, measuring 42 × 29 7/8 inches, showcases Vouet's (1590–1649) fascination with Caravaggio's tenebrism—the bold interplay of light and shadow that heightens emotional depth and draws the viewer into the scene. The finely dressed woman, lost in thought as she strums her prominently placed guitar, engages us psychologically, blurring the line between portrait and genre painting. This work exemplifies early 17th-century Italian influences that Vouet would later bring to France. Women musicians, especially guitar players, held a rich tradition in European art, echoed in contemporary French engravings with their contemplative poses. Vouet's virtuoso technique blends Caravaggesque lighting with emerging Baroque elegance, creating a sophisticated allure that transcends simple illustration. Summoned back to Paris in 1627 as Premier peintre du Roi under Louis XIII, Vouet helped introduce these Italian styles to French courts, bridging tenebrism and grandeur. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this painting invites visitors to ponder the timeless charm of music and light.